Sep. 23: Argonauts @ REDBLACKS

[Will]

OK but in a basically a must win game, why put him in?? I'm all for developing for next year, but changing the game plan with Lefevour may have been the better option tonight.

Adjustments have never been this offence's strong suit.

[Argo57]

The last 5 games will tell how Willy gels with this offensive system heading into 2017 and all questions will be answered.

[TheHammer]

Have to reply to this Lefevour stuff.

I have to agree with paulwoods. Lefevour's not that good. Yes, I know my team lost to him, but a)even Jonathon Crompton was capable of a win or two and b)I'm still convinced that win was do to Defence and ST.

I don't know what it is about Lefevour that gets people so crazy about him. It happened here in Hamilton when he was playing for the Cats. I think because of what he can do with his feet. That seems to really impress people. But without a decent arm, that type of QB is not sustainable in this league. He made some awful throws tonight. Mobility is great, but you have to be able to throw the ball. I also think Lefevour is a good guy and people like that too. You want to cheer for him. You want him to succeed. But based on the last 2 games, he's not the answer. He wasn't the answer in Hamilton (granted injuries played a part, but he was never taking Burris' or Collaros' spot) and he's not the answer in Toronto.

The other thing that gets me is the anti-Willy people who say 'It's too early to tell with Willy, or 'the jury is still out'. Yet somehow, one game 3 weeks ago is still a good enough sample size to judge Lefevour's abilities.

[OV Argo]

What a brutal, pathetic show of football most of this game was to see live - the 1st quarter in particular was a classic example of current boring, predictable, same-old CFL football. Ottawa deserved the win, but they weren't very good; Argos OTOH were horrid - just clueless on offence and the D has no zip or fire.

But hey, at least I got to see live the beginning of the Argo Drew Willy check-down, dump pass offence that I'm sure will take the league by storm; Millanovich & Barker must be 100 % sure this guy is a CFL starting calibre QB and the future for the Argos. Laughable.

An embarassing display of Argo football - one of the worst I've ever witnessed live. Quick Argo owners - extend those football geniuses Barker & Millanovich. Really looking forward to see that pair of clowns continue to lead this team.

Not many Argo gear wearing fans in attendance at Lansdowne compared to the game i was at last year; maybe a good thing, and only a few Ottawa fans had a chuckle at me wearing mine - probably felt sorry; my meek Arrrgooos ! as I exited the stadium got a few laughs though.

[OV Argo]

He didn't play great, obviously, but at least Willy can throw a hard pass fairly accurately. I don't think LeFevour had a single easily catchable pass in the first half, and some of them were beyond ugly. He can run and could be a good change-of-pace backup, but there's a reason he hasn't won a starting spot in five CFL seasons. It was a tremendously inspiring story when he led us to victory two weeks ago, but he can't throw. I'm sure Willy gets the start next week, and with it the starters' reps.

Inaccurate passing - particularly on passes over 10 yards - has been a hallmark of Willy's CFL career so far - guy is basically useless unless you are talking about half way effiiciently running a joke of an offence that a dullard like Millanovich favors. Maybe Barker & Milo told you / sold you differently however.

[ArgoRavi]

Why didn't Milanovich have Hajrallahu come out for the field goal on 3rd and 5 from the 27...It would've been a 35 yd FG...WTF, is that supposed to be impossible, even against the wind which doesn't look harsh it would put the Argos within 7 at 22-15.

This guy Milanovich is friggin idiot for going for it on 3rd down. Does he have that much mistrust for his defence, it's the only thing I could come up with for why he would make such a stupid call to go for it on 3rd down.

When did this happen? If you are talking about the gamble in the third quarter, it would have been a 50 yard FG into the wind and we all remember what happened with the 53 yarder into the wind in the 2nd quarter.

[ArgoRavi]

I hate criticizing the officials, and they had nothing to do with us losing this game, but you are right -- the horrendous inconsistency has been evident all season long. And the stupid challenges have got to go. I'm at the point where I'd eliminate challenges altogether. They just suck all the life out of the games.

The Argos didn't lose the game because of these calls but there were two roughing calls on the Argos where the Argo gave a slight push to the Ottawa player and the RedBlack went down like they had been shot. The first instance was the Van Roten roughing penalty which resulted in the ill-fated 53 yard FG attempt. That was a 10 point swing in the game. The second instance was on the blocked punt by Wylie when Gabriel barely touched Lavoie and he went down like a soccer player. That may have cost the Argos 4 points as they had to settle for a FG with a bit longer field on that drive.

Four times over the past month, opposition players have pulled these stunts (Fantuz, Nichols, an Ottawa DB that I could not identify and Lavoie) and four times the Argos have gotten game-changing penalties. Again, the Argos didn't lose because of this but it certainly adds to the frustration that I feel watching these games.

[ArgoRavi]

Another uninspiring loss.
The D was ok, I guess as it only gave up one TD.
The offense not much better.
Dan was disappointing in the first half.
Not sure I would have pulled him without giving him a set of downs in the opening third quarter, but Willy overall was nothing spectacular.
Definitely a drop back passer like Ray, obviously throws a better ball then Dan.
Still though other than the two downfield throws, way too many check downs just like Ray.
I am not sold with this type of an offensive scheme with Willy and Ray as pure pocket passer.
For me the roll out if properly executed like what Lefevour did in the first two games has a greater upside.
The team is going nowhere right now and definitely cleaning house is required for the HC and GM at year end.

Sorry, AT, but LeFevour is clearly not the answer. Ottawa took the run away from him and forced him to pass from the pocket which he simply is not good enough doing. Every other CFL team can see that too. Willy acquitted himself well under the circumstances on Friday night. Hopefully he can have a strong game in Montreal next week.

[ArgoFan1]

Not sure Barker needs to go, as he's done some great things for us, except for the love affair with Ricky Ray and keeping him on and losing two capable back ups. I say almost every coach has to go. We need some good people to coach offence and special teams here. Defense is okay, if not spectacular, but can be at times. It is Offence that sells tickets and the last few years have been a very bad repeat of two yard passes...............but, I know this has been the Argo way for a long, long time. I used to boo at Skydome when Austin was coaching and pretty well every possession, they ran the ball, with Avery hitting the wall of players and losing a yard and then threw a one yard pass. I am sick, sick, sick of one yard passes !!!!! The shortest pass for a first down is 10 yards straight ahead. I think I've seen the Argos do that a couple times in the past few years. Those 30 yard passes almost laterally that get you two yards should be forever banned from the playbook. I hope they can find a coach and offensive co-ordinator who can bring some excitement back to the game. This system has driven away a lot of fans and potential fans.

[ArgoRavi]

Of course the jury is out on Willy. I said, "I don't know if Willy is the long-term solution." But it is dreaming to say "if LeFevour can connect with his passes." Go back and watch the entire second half of last week's game and the entire first half of this week's game. Virtually every throw was way worse than what's expected of a pro QB. You can't be dangerous if you can't get the ball to an open receiver more than occasionally.

I'm not putting all of the blame on LeF for tonight's loss, or last week's. Our offensive scheme was poor, our special teams were terrible, we lacked discipline tonight and our defence caved in last week. But I am 100% convinced LeFevour is not capable of being a starting QB in this league, and I'm sure Barker and Milanovich felt the same way -- that's why the deal for Willy was made. Will it work out? TBD. But I'm sure going with LeF would not work out for any more than brief spurts.

We all got on Paul last week as he appeared to be too hard on LeFevour. The reality is that he was absolutely correct.

[ArgoRavi]

A total mess tonight, but it sort of kinda hadn't been the past three weeks.

The Argos have been one of the least penalized teams in the league this year so discipline has generally not been a problem. As I have mentioned, I really thought that a couple of the roughing penalties were bad jokes.

[Ron]

side note: I said keep Harris over Ray last year...but under SM offence I don't think it would make a big a difference.

After watching Harris lately with a much better receiver corps than the Argos have ... I am not upset he's not here. He's fading again.

Argonauts are not a very good team, Willy did make some good throws tonight but Milanovich's O system fools no one at this point.
Since Barker and Milanovich have apparently saved their jobs due to the Willy trade I honestly can't wait for more of the same mediocrity in 2017.

Someone gets it. ;-)

Inaccurate passing - particularly on passes over 10 yards - has been a hallmark of Willy's CFL career so far - guy is basically useless unless you are talking about half way effiiciently running a joke of an offence that a dullard like Millanovich favors. Maybe Barker & Milo told you / sold you differently however.

His passes over 10 yards looked pretty good last night.

oh, and since you were there live. Were Argos receivers getting open? The couple games I saw they weren't.

[Argo57]

What a brutal, pathetic show of football most of this game was to see live - the 1st quarter in particular was a classic example of current boring, predictable, same-old CFL football. Ottawa deserved the win, but they weren't very good; Argos OTOH were horrid - just clueless on offence and the D has no zip or fire.

But hey, at least I got to see live the beginning of the Argo Drew Willy check-down, dump pass offence that I'm sure will take the league by storm; Millanovich & Barker must be 100 % sure this guy is a CFL starting calibre QB and the future for the Argos. Laughable.

An embarassing display of Argo football - one of the worst I've ever witnessed live. Quick Argo owners - extend those football geniuses Barker & Millanovich. Really looking forward to see that pair of clowns continue to lead this team.

Not many Argo gear wearing fans in attendance at Lansdowne compared to the game i was at last year; maybe a good thing, and only a few Ottawa fans had a chuckle at me wearing mine - probably felt sorry; my meek Arrrgooos ! as I exited the stadium got a few laughs though.

OV, RedBlack fans were laughing with you not at you.

[OV Argo]

We all got on Paul last week as he appeared to be too hard on LeFevour. The reality is that he was absolutely correct.

Total bs Ravi; nice to see you've jumped on the Argo standard party line bandwagon though. The "reality" is that Millanovich has no clue as an offensive coach - his play-book and play-calling are a total joke. Scapegoating LeFevour - who threw a bunch of TD passes in his first 2 Argo starts, plus ran for some yards & time - and believing a proven stiff like Willy is this big upgrade, is so laughable, it's almost beyond belief. Good on some cheerleaders for buying the line of crap though.

[PullTogether73]

OV is back spreading sunshine and joy again I see.

[BATKINSON001]

I just don't get why lefevour didn't run. He should have...

[argotom]

All I know is Dan threw for over 600 yards in 2 games and 5 TD passes.
Equally as important he made things happen with his wheels by extending plays.
Sure he threw some poor picks, who hasn't and those are correctable and teachable moments watching film.
He put some excitement into the offense a spark, unlike the horrid and put you to sleep drop back sitting in the pocket pylon passing especially those awesome Milanovich like check downs for 0-5 yards.
Ah yes we are all waiting for more of that crap.

[OV Argo]

I just don't get why lefevour didn't run. He should have...

Because he is told to throw 3 yard check downs as the focal point of that moron offence.

Smart, diverse offences with a QB with good running & scrambling ability at the helm know how to take advantage of this; some designed run (QB draw) calls, some roll-out with the option of taking off for the 1st down (instead of throwing 3 yard dumps with the receiver tackled right away) AND the running QB threat opens up the run game some, so that can be used more (Whitaker got about half as many run plays as that superstar Moses Madu got for Ottawa), PLUS you have the QB throw the ball well down the field (more than 10 or 15 yards) lots - deep posts or corners, 15 yard + dig routes, long bomb fly patterns, etc.

Oh wait though - Drew Willy is the answer at QB - clearly a way better passer than LeFevour - and will be able to run that dump pass / "route tree" (what a joke) offence to perfection - just you wait and see - tons of Argo offence yardage & points comin' right up.

[Gill The Thrill]

When did this happen? If you are talking about the gamble in the third quarter, it would have been a 50 yard FG into the wind and we all remember what happened with the 53 yarder into the wind in the 2nd quarter.

Can you not read the post...the FG would've made it 22-15. So that means it was 22-12, in the 4th quarter with about 3:50 left. They were in Ottawa territory if not inside 30, and they were in the opposite direction of where Hajrallahu missed that 53 yarder in the 2nd quarter.

Ottawa proceeded to get the ball immediately after that 3 and 5 miss and marched it right down the field for the winning TD. Has it come to the point when we're praising the Argo D for giving up 29 points. In Edmonton, fans are taking fits because their defense is giving up an average of 29 points. This Argos D never comes up with a stop when they need one...brutal all around, and of course, they fcuked me on Pick'em again.

[Argo57]

Because he is told to throw 3 yard check downs as the focal point of that moron offence.

Smart, diverse offences with a QB with good running & scrambling ability at the helm know how to take advantage of this; some designed run (QB draw) calls, some roll-out with the option of taking off for the 1st down (instead of throwing 3 yard dumps with the receiver tackled right away) AND the running QB threat opens up the run game some, so that can be used more (Whitaker got about half as many run plays as that superstar Moses Madu got for Ottawa), PLUS you have the QB throw the ball well down the field (more than 10 or 15 yards) lots - deep posts or corners, 15 yard + dig routes, long bomb fly patterns, etc.

Oh wait though - Drew Willy is the answer at QB - clearly a way better passer than LeFevour - and will be able to run that dump pass / "route tree" (what a joke) offence to perfection - just you wait and see - tons of Argo offence yardage & points comin' right up.

The Argo offence had a refreshing new look in the first 2 games with LeFevour at the helm, they seemed to abandon the plan last night.
Willy made some nice throws last night and a few crap ones as well, the O philosophy has to be completely changed heading into 2017, only way to accomplish this is clean out the coaching staff (and GM) IMO.
Status quo ain't working and will only lead to drastic declines in attendance in 2017 and beyond, they can't keep shovelling the same shit at the fans and expect them to return.
On more than one occasion this season I have wondered why I am shelling out premium $$ for such a boring predictable on field product (and I know I'm not alone), I have also given tickets to a couple of friends who have never been to a CFL game both left wondering why I talk up the entertainment value of the CFL (Argonauts in particular) so much.